Microsoft to open European tech centre

 

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By Reuters

Posted on 17 Jun 2008 at 12:40

Microsoft plans to open a search technology centre in Europe as part of its plan to create a more powerful, and locally relevant search tool.

The company has not confirmed in which city the centre will be located, with several locations still being considered.

The research centre will be opened in Microsoft's 2009 fiscal year, which starts on 1 July.

Microsoft has sought to increase its presence in online search in a bid to gain ground on market leader Google, and create a rival advertising platform.

That effort to gain market share has already seen the company launch an unsuccessful $47.5 billion bid for Yahoo, and launch a "cashback" search service that pays users a rebate for buying products they found using the company's Windows Live search engine.